LETTER: Fracking, as practiced in Pennsylvania, proves we need to avoid it in New York

Gov. Andrew Cuomo delays his decision about hydrofracking to avoid negative poll numbers. Whichever way the wind might blow, he does not want it to affect his political ambitions.

What about the way the wind blows for those surrounded by gas wells? Take Rebecca Roter of Pennsylvania, for example. She was overwhelmed by a nauseating odor of gas and reported it to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. When someone from the agency came to investigate four days later, there was no odor. The agency’s manual directs its staff “not to register a complaint” if no odor is detected when they arrive on the scene. Furthermore, such complaints are given a Level 2 priority and agents can take up to two weeks to respond.

Natural gas emissions erupt in spurts, briefly but intensively, and can equal a full day’s exposure in half an hour. It has been shown that the emissions release toxic chemicals associated with cancer, as well as neurological and respiratory illnesses. Some people calling the environmental agency in Pennsylvania were told, “Just don’t go outside.”

Investigators attempting to report on the situation got no response from the American Petroleum Institute, and the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association merely stated that the industry is “heavily regulated.” The state agency even refused to allow their officials to be interviewed.